Business Essentials Package

What is Business Essentials?

Our most popular package is FSB Business Essentials which includes a whole range of benefits and products designed to make your business fly

What's included?

A suite of legal benefits including a dedicated helpline, bundled insurance products and a range of online information to keep your business safe. Plus a whole range of negotiated benefits to help save you money and win business.

Chris Green's Story

'Within a few weeks of joining we'd taken advantage of FSB’s Online Legal Documents. We started a graduate programme and access to these documents gave us an understanding of the legal side, and has helped us to create a number of processes and procedures.'

Marc Wileman's Story

'When we first took on a member of staff, we used the online legal document template library. FSB does more important stuff than you think it does, there are lots of member benefits, probably more than we actually use.'

How much does FSB membership cost?

We offer three packages to suit your business needs. Joining FSB Connect is free, our Business Essentials package starts at £172.50 in the first year and our specialist Business Creation package has a fixed price of £129.

Small business owners stretching to meet National Living Wage costs

NEW research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows the majority (64%) of small businesses impacted by the National Living Wage (NLW) have stretched to meet the latest rise by taking lower profits.

Two in five (39%) small businesses affected by the NLW have put up prices to cope with the latest increase to £7.50 per hour. A further quarter (24%) have cancelled or scaled down their investment plans, and a fifth have reduced staff hours (22%) or hired fewer workers (19%).

FSB’s research also suggests the faster rising NLW has not had the effect of increasing demand for younger workers. Less than four per cent of small businesses responded to the NLW increase by hiring more workers under the age of 25, who are on a lower rate.

It comes as business operating costs have surged to their highest in four years, according to FSB’s latest Small Business Index.

The research shows the majority of small businesses are already paying their staff above the new NLW. But there are significant pressures on the 43 per cent of small firms that have had to increase their wages in line with the NLW. Sectors facing the greatest squeeze are those with tight margins where wages are typically lower, such as retail, care and hospitality and accommodation businesses.

In light of the recent string of poor economic statistics and continued uncertainty, FSB has urged the Low Pay Commission to consider whether the Government’s 2020 NLW target may need to be delayed if the economy cannot bear the rapid pace of increases. The NLW is currently projected to rise to £8.75 by 2020. FSB says any risk to the economy should be built into the next NLW increase scheduled for April 2018. For this reason, FSB has recommended the 2018 NLW increases to no higher than £7.85.

Wilfred Mitchell, FSB Policy Chair for Northern Ireland said:“Small businesses owners have demonstrated their resilience in meeting the challenge set by the National Living Wage, with many cutting their margins, or even paying themselves less, to pay their staff more.

In sectors where margins are tight, small firms are resorting to more drastic measures to cope with the NLW. Therefore it is vital that the NLW is set at a level that the economy can afford, without job losses or harming job creation.

Cost pressures on small businesses are building, and with most recent economic indicators underperforming, we are now facing the reality that the NLW target may need to be delayed beyond 2020.

“To prevent the growing costs of employment from stunting job creation, the Government should use its Autumn Budget to uprate the Employment Allowance and focus it on the smallest employers."